Some 45 Jews in Sa'ada, Yemen, have fled their homes after being threatened by radical Muslims and are seeking aid from the government, according to a Jan. 21 report in the Saudi daily Al Wattan. The Jews apparently received letters accusing them of being part of an “international Zionist conspiracy" and warning them to leave their homes within 10 days. The letters threatened that those who stayed would be killed or their children abducted and their homes looted.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid diplomatic visits to three Latin American countries Jan. 13-15, starting with Venezuela on Jan. 13. He and President Hugo Chavez reviewed accords they had signed in Caracas in September and signed new accords which were not immediately made public. "Iran and Venezuela will be together to the end," Ahmadinejad said. "It's possible that some problems will arise, but the revolutionary will of the two peoples will conquer any problem." (EFE, Jan. 13)

From the Editor & Publisher, Jan. 22:

Conrado de la Cruz Jiménez, the publisher of the most influential daily in the Mexican state of Chiapas, has died in Miami, where he fled to escape prosecution by the state government, the Mexico City newspaper El Universal reported.

On Jan. 18 center-right Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and a group of business executives signed an agreement to hold the price of corn at 8.5 pesos ($0.78) per kilogram. The plan for de facto price controls, a shift from Calderon's free market agenda, came after corn prices jumped from about six pesos in most of 2006 to 10 pesos ($0.90) in January. The "Agreement to Stabilize the Price of the Tortilla" will be in effect until April 30, when it will be subject to review. (AP; La Jornada, Jan. 19)

From the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), Jan. 22:

To: Kurdistan Regional Government

International Campaign to remove Article No 7 from the Kurdistan regional constitution!

Article 7 of the proposed constitution for Kurdistan is an open threat to the rights and freedoms of the people.

This is what George Bernard Shaw called "the extreme form of censorship." From the New York Times, Jan. 19:

ISTANBUL — The editor of Turkey's only Armenian-language newspaper was assassinated today on an Istanbul street.

From the China Daily, Jan. 18:

An online campaign initiated by a television host to drive Starbucks out of the Forbidden City has won the backing of more than half a million netizens, who see the presence of the coffee chain in the heart of Beijing as an insult to Chinese culture.

From the AP, Jan. 19:

CAIRO — An Egyptian blogger went on trial Thursday on charges of insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife with his Internet writings. Egypt's first prosecution of a blogger came as Washington has backed away from pressuring its Mideast ally to improve its human rights record and bring democratic reform.